Thursday, January 31, 2013

I thought the last day of January was too late for reviews of last year, but I found another such a post by someone in my Google Reader only today. So here goes... With so much gadding about to different places last year, I only managed to whittle it down to 45 piks.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

It turns out that bubbling rock [Volcanoes National Park] is a lot hotter than bubbling water [Yellowstone National Park]. The former is apparently 2000F! I feel quite stupid for not realising there is such a big difference. It is quite weird (see yesterday's weird pictures) to see evidence of rock being a liquid. The really hot bit was some way below the surface of the crater pictured here, but the orange glow becomes apparent at night. The volcanic cloud is made of all sorts of dangerous stuff (e.g. glass), and they close different bits of the park depending on which way the wind is blowing.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Here is is from a distance. There was something wrong with the idea of it being a tree, because it made all the houses and cars round about look like toys. It said on it that it was a Banyan tree. [Hawai'i]

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I hope to blog more pics from our trip later, but after so much aeroplaning (Took off Saturday morning from Newark and landed Monday afternoon in Japan), it seems like a good time for some aeroplaney photographs.

I thought this was a bit like a body plugged in to life support.

New York and United, or, as close as I got to New York.

New Jersey is as attractive from the sky as it is at ground level.

Somewhere in the middle of America.

Sunset fell as we came in to land in Honolulu

Honolulu!

PS - professional photographers like to tell people "it's not the camera, it's the photographer". This, however, is the equivalent of how Heifetz could play the Mendelssohn violin concerto beautifully on a 25 dollar mass produced violin. Never taken such respectable aerial pics before, and it is due to having had a fortunate Christmas, rather than suddenly having got good at taking pictures. Saw Gavin last week and he called my new camera both "old" and "broken", which is fine by me, as such an impression may make me less likely to be mugged. But he did also stroke it lovingly, which was quite strange, as I do that too. So here's a new mantra to replace "all the gear, no idea": "Got no idea, need the gear".

Monday, January 21, 2013

I've barely commented on the Muller BEST thing, primarily on the grounds that there is nothing there worth commenting on. There might be something mildly interesting in the details of their approach, but it was clear from the outset that (assuming they didn't mess the whole thing up) they wouldn't reach significantly different conclusions than the several other groups who have been analysing the surface temperature record for years. Certainly, there was nothing to justify the extraordinary press coverage they received before they had even done any analysis.

Now at long last it's published. Previously submitted to JGR, it has ended up...as the first article in a newly-created fake vanity press "journal". That's a few rungs down from just sticking it on the Arxiv, where (1) it is free (2) at least some people will read it (3) no-one will think you are pretending it's undergone any meaningful peer review. No wonder Curry has pulled her name from it. The surprise is that the others have not.

I'm actually half-wondering if the journal has stolen this manuscript as a way of generating content. Have any of the authors commented?

Saturday, January 19, 2013

On my recent travels, more than one person wondered why I was bothering to carry a camera in New Jersey. [Americans are like that - they make personal comments to strangers as a form of social oppression - to force them to regress to the mean.] Princeton and Rutgers universities are 17 miles apart, and not precisely identical.

Princeton University

Rutgers University

Princeton University GuestHouse (free cookies!)

Rutgers Preferred Hotel (free swimming pool!)

Another can't believe it - Tom Selleck is on TV! It really is the 1980s here in New Jersey!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Visiting Princeton University today. It's a theme park of large pseudo-old buildings placed in a very large field which is randomly criss-crossed by little paths. It should greatly confuse the archaeologists of the future, but at least the buildings are warm and spacious inside. However - outside it's like Manchester in November. Pizza for lunch not as good as Tokyo. So that's all the important stats for the day. I am missing all the warm, fuzzy animals of Hawaii, so will cheer myself up with these...

Native peacock - you can tell it is native cos it wasn't in a cage.

This tortoise is bigger than you think. Alternatively, this man is not a midget.

Croco-gator

Having not done my bit to propagate the tufted great ape, I probably shouldn't criticise, but this bird seems to deserve a Darwin award. The notice board said something like they nuture one offspring every 5 years per group of about 20. Surprisingly, they are endangered.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Cute monkeys are everywhere on Oahu. The tufted great apes are ubiquitous - the little malnourished ones leap and swim in the ocean, while the big fat ones lie beached on the shore. In the trees, however, other species can be found: